Best Songs of 1982

Sandwiched in between two of my favorite songs of all-time, the other 98 tracks on this list are ones that were already part of the musical firmament by the time I my awareness of the world around me began to fully form a few years later. So it’s not so much that these songs present my earliest musical memories, but more apt to say that a large chunk of this list was the foundation for my music listening in the years to come.

This might say something, too, about the time itself, for back in 1982, it wasn’t simply that the world moved slower; it was also the case that things were allowed to stick around longer. Movies would stay in theaters for months. TV shows reran for decades. Not so much anymore; now there are too many other options in the pipeline, too many pieces of content itching to find their place in the culture.

All of which is to say that I don’t necessarily associate much of this playlist with the year 1982. A possible culprit of this collapsing of time? MTV. The network was in its first full year of operation in ’82, and fully blossomed in 1983 (especially when it finally decided to air the now-iconic “Billie Jean” video after Michael Jackson’s equally legendary Motown 25 performance). So what I am saying, obliquely, is that it took awhile for the culture to materialize back then. Perhaps, too, there is something to be said about the limitations of delivery and the gatekeepers that controlled them… but that’s another story.

Whatever the reason, and surely there are plenty, these songs defined the decade to the point that I would guess lots of people, including you, would be surprised to know that they originate in this particular year. It was one which, too, finally shed the last vestiges of the sounds of the ’70s, which is probably why so much of this playlist can be so readily reduced to its decade-based moniker. This is the first year of the Eighties which actually sounds like “the Eighties.”

For these year-end lists, I like to undertake the seemingly impossibly task of creating an hours-long mix. The order you see below represents that effort, which you can listen to via Spotify. Sadly all 100 tracks aren't available—just 5 short!—but you get the general idea. Track notes to come eventually or maybe never.

December 4, 2017

Show Grid

Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’

Michael Jackson

Thriller

Epic
via my dad library: 11/19/2003 (8/19/1993, earlier on cassette and vinyl)

Notes
Situation

Yaz

Upstairs at Eric’s

Sire
via TK library: 4/28/2013

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Let It Whip

Dazz Band

Keep It Live

Motown
via TK library: 4/20/2008

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Doo Wa Ditty

Zapp

Zapp II

Warner Bros.
via TK library: 11/19/2003 (11/9/1993)

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West Coast Poplock

Ronnie Hudson & The Street People

West Coast Poplock 12"

Street People
via the 2pac sample library: 10/5/2010

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Atomic Dog

George Clinton

Computer Games

Capitol
via TK library: 3/2/2013

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You Dropped a Bomb on Me

The Gap Band

Gap Band IV

Mercury
via TK library: 2/11/2008

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Electric Avenue

Eddy Grant

Killer on the Rampage

Portrait
via TK library: 6/2/2011

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She Blinded Me With Science

Thomas Dolby

The Golden Age of Wireless

Capitol
via TK library: 8/27/2010

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Goody Two Shoes

Adam Ant

Friend or Foe

CBS
via TK library: 11/21/2011

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Town Called Malice

The Jam

The Gift

Polydor
via TK library: 7/3/2012

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Save It For Later

The English Beat

Special Beat Service

I.R.S.
via TK library: 12/18/2011

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Come On Eileen

Dexys Midnight Runners

Too-Rye-Ay

Mercury
via TK library: 5/3/2008

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Our House

Madness

The Rise & Fall

Stiff Records
via TK library: 5/3/2008

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I Melt With You

Modern English

After the Snow

Sire
via TK library: 10/27/2007

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Mexican Radio

Wall of Voodoo

Call of the West

I.R.S.
via TK library: 8/27/2010

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White Wedding

Billy Idol

Billy Idol

Chrysalis
via TK library: 12/31/2010

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Skulls

Misfits

Walk Among Us

Slash
via TK library: 6/22/2014

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Blue Spark

X

Under the Big Black Sun

Elektra
via TK library: 10/29/2012

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Trem Two

Mission of Burma

Vs.

Ace of Hearts
via TK library: 3/30/2008

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Texas Serenade

The Gun Club

Miami

Animal
via TK library: 6/14/2014

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Never Say Never

Romeo Void

Benefactor

Columbia
via TK library: 6/6/2016

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No One’s Little Girl

The Raincoats

Running Away / No One’s Little Girl

4AD
via TK library: 11/5/2013

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Jukebox (Don’t Put Another Dime)

The Flirts

10 Cents a Dance

“O”
via TK library: 8/27/2010

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Vacation

The Go-Go’s

Vacation

I.R.S.
via TK library: 7/6/2011

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I Want Candy

Bow Wow Wow

I Want Candy

RCA
via TK library: 4/24/2010

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Goodbye to You

Scandal

Scandal

Columbia
via TK library: 8/27/2010

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I’m So Excited

Pointer Sisters

So Excited!

Planet Records
via TK library: 9/4/2009

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Young Love

Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson

A&M
via TK library: 6/22/2014

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Jump To It

Aretha Franklin

Jump To It

Arista
via TK library: 6/6/2016

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Why

Carly Simon

Why 12"

Mirage
via TK library: 6/6/2016

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More Than This

Roxy Music

Avalon

Virgin
via TK library: 5/27/2011

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Reap the Wild Wind

Ultravox

Quartet

Chrysalis
via TK library: 8/27/2010

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Temptation

New Order

Temptation 12"

Factory
via TK library: 12/18/2011

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Da Da Da (I Don’t Love You You Don’t Love Me Aha Aha Aha)

Trio

Da Da Da

Mercury
via TK library: 1/17/2016

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The Sun and the Rainfall

Depeche Mode

A Broken Frame

Warner Bros.
via TK library: 6/22/2014

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Red Skies

The Fixx

Shuttered Room

MCA
via TK library: 7/14/2012

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I Ran

A Flock of Seagulls

A Flock of Seagulls

Arista
via TK library: 11/8/2009

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Talk Talk

Talk Talk

The Party’s Over

EMI
via TK library: 8/26/2012

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Hungry Like the Wolf

Duran Duran

Rio

Capitol
via TK library: 5/3/2008

Notes
Shock the Monkey

Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel

Geffen
via TK library: 1/17/2013

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Love My Way

The Psychedelic Furs

Forever Now

Columbia
via TK library: 8/27/2010

Notes
Almost With You

The Church

The Blurred Crusade

Second Motion
via TK library: 6/21/2014

Notes
The Cars She Used to Drive

Robyn Hitchcock

Groovy Decay

Albion
via TK library: 6/22/2014

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Someday, Someway

Marshall Crenshaw

Marshall Crenshaw

Warner Bros.
via TK library: 2/12/2012

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Wall of Death

Richard & Linda Thompson

Shoot Out the Lights

Hannibal
via TK library: 9/29/2011

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Tell Me When It’s Over

The Dream Syndicate

The Days of Wine and Roses

Slash
via TK library: 3/2/2013

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Wolves, Lower

R.E.M.

Chronic Town

I.R.S.
via TK library: 10/26/2003 (9/12/1996)

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Neverland

The dB’s

Repercussion

Albion
via TK library: 10/20/2013

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Illustrated Crawling

Green on Red

Green on Red

Down There
via TK library: 3/19/2014

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That Girl

The Windbreakers

Meet the Windbreakers

Big Monkey
via TK library: 6/3/2013

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Back on the Chain Gang

Pretenders

Learning to Crawl

Sire
via TK library: 2/7/2010

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Somebody’s Baby

Jackson Browne

Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Asylum
via TK library: 11/4/2010

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Do You Believe in Love

Huey Lewis & The News

Picture This

Chrysalis
via TK library: 8/31/2009

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Hold Me

Fleetwood Mac

Mirage

Warner Bros.
via TK library: 12/10/2011

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Southern Cross

Crosby, Stills & Nash

Daylight Again

Atlantic
via TK library: 5/26/2013

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One Step Ahead of the Blues

J.J. Cale

Grasshopper

Island
via TK library: 6/22/2014

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Dweller on the Threshold

Van Morrison

Beautiful Vision

Warner Bros.
via TK library: 4/20/2014

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I.G.Y.

Donald Fagen

The Nightfly

Warner Bros.
via TK library: 2/5/2014

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One on One

Daryl Hall & John Oates

H2O

RCA
via TK library: 8/8/2008

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Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Gary Portnoy

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Applause
via TK library: 8/13/2009

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Take It Away

Paul McCartney

Tug of War

Columbia
via TK library: 6/25/2014

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I Gotta Try

Michael McDonald

If That’s What It Takes

Reprise
via TK library: 6/21/2014

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Love Come Down

Evelyn “Champagne” King

Get Loose

RCA
via TK library: 8/24/2015

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Murphy’s Law

Cheri

Murphy’s Law

Venture
via TK library: 6/24/2014

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Nasty Girl

Vanity 6

Vanity 6

Warner Bros.
via TK library: 5/4/2016

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777-9311

The Time

What Time Is It?

Warner Bros.
via TK library: 2/10/2014

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1999

Prince

1999

Warner Bros.
via TK library: 6/26/2007

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The Message

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five

The Message

Sugar Hill
via TK library: 4/3/2011

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Planet Rock

Afrika Bambaataa & the Soul Sonic Force

Planet Rock

Tommy Boy
via TK library: 7/3/2012

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Cutie Pie

One Way

Who’s Foolin’ Who?

MCA
via TK library: 2/11/2008

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Explanations

Gil Scott-Heron

Moving Target

Arista
via TK library: 6/23/2014

Notes
Forget Me Nots

Patrice Rushen

Straight From the Heart

Elektra
via TK library: 6/6/2016

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Sexual Healing

Marvin Gaye

Midnight Love

Columbia
via TK library: 10/10/2011

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Do You Really Want to Hurt Me

Culture Club

Kissing to Be Clever

Virgin
via TK library: 8/27/2010

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Africa

Toto

Toto IV

Columbia
via TK library: 10/11/2012

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Senses Working Overtime

XTC

English Settlement

Caroline
via TK library: 3/8/2013

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Black Coffee in Bed

Squeeze

Sweets From a Stranger

A&M
via TK library: 5/10/2010

Notes
Heart

Nick Lowe

Nick the Knife

F-Beat
via TK library: 6/27/2014

Notes
A Quick One

Ric Ocasek

Beatitude

Geffen
via TK library: 6/22/2014

Notes
Steppin’ Out

Joe Jackson

Night and Day

A&M
via TK library: 11/29/2009

Notes
Always on My Mind

Willie Nelson

Always on My Mind

Columbia
via TK library: 7/13/2012

Notes
The Story of an Artist

Daniel Johnston

Don’t Be Scared

Gammon
via TK library: 12/18/2011

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Atlantic City

Bruce Springsteen

Nebraska

Columbia
via TK library: 11/25/2008

Notes
Allentown

Billy Joel

The Nylon Curtain

Columbia
via TK library: 11/13/2003 (12/28/1997, earlier on cassette and vinyl)

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Jack and Diane

John Mellencamp

American Fool

Mercury
via TK library: 11/1/2003 (5/28/1998)

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Rock the Casbah

The Clash

Combat Rock

Epic
via TK library: 5/3/2008

Notes
Rip It Up

Orange Juice

Rip It Up

Polydor
via TK library: 5/4/2016

Notes
Eaten by the Monster of Love

Sparks

Angst in My Pants

Atlantic
via TK library: 6/14/2014

Notes
Suspended in Gaffa

Kate Bush

The Dreaming

Fish People Music
via TK library: 6/25/2014

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Life Goes On

The Damned

Strawberries

Dojo
via TK library: 7/20/2014

Notes
Eminence Front

The Who

It’s Hard

Warner Bros.
via TK library: 6/6/2016

Notes
You Got Lucky

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Long After Dark

MCA
via TK library: 11/30/2003 (11/19/1993)

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Eye of the Tiger

Survivor

Eye of the Tiger

Volcano
via TK library: 9/18/2011

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Bad to the Bone

George Thorogood & the Destroyers

Bad to the Bone

EMI
via TK library: 5/26/2013

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Can’t Get Enough

Bonnie Raitt

Green Light

Warner Bros.
via TK library: 6/25/2014

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Wild Things Run Fast

Joni Mitchell

Wild Things Run Fast

Geffen
via TK library: 6/6/2016

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Beyond Belief

Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Imperial Bedroom

Columbia
via TK library: 8/22/2008

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As Real As Real

The Three O’Clock

Baroque Hoedown

Frontier
via TK library: 6/3/2013

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Don’t Change

INXS

Shabooh Shoobah

ATCO
via TK library: 4/5/2009

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